A Reason to Decide
by AniPhoenix
Summary: More or less a proposal made to Jake by the Ellimist. A new series stemming from this is undecided as of yet, so review.


My name is Jake. 

I am an Animorph. 

For those of you who don't know me, I am a normal kid, on the outside anyway. I go to school. I hang out at the arcade on the weekends, and I wear Nikes. 

On the inside, however, I am more different than you would imagine. I can change into any animal I've ever touched, just by thinking about it. I've been a whole zoo. Dog? Yep. Tiger? Sure. Tyranosaurus Rex? Yes. (But, due to some sort of time-space problems, I can't morph that anymore. It's a long story.) 

But, as amazing as this power is, it comes at a cost.

We are being invaded. By aliens. Parasites to be exact. Yeerks to be even more precise. They've been invading us since the mid-1980s. Silently. No one, but the captured and a few other know about them. They have ships parked in orbit, cloaked from human technology. 

What is a Yeerk? Imagine a grey slug, but twice as big. Now imagine that slug crawaling into your ear, flattening itself out to get into your head-literally. 

Hard to believe right? You're probably thinking "What a nut-case." Well, once I would have agreed with you. But that was before. Before the construction site. Before the dying Andalite. Before the numerous battles, dreams-nightmares. Before the countless times I've woken up in bed, late at night, in a sweat, because I've seen--done--things no kid should ever have to witness. I've killed. 

Remember the slug? Remeber the entry? Well, after it's inside your head, it takes over. Totally. You can do nothing at all. You can't even twitch an eyebrow. The Yeerk has total, complete control. It can hack into your thoughts and memories. You can't hide anything from it. 

That's not all. Once control has been established, no one can tell the difference. It's like nothing happened. But what happens to you? You're still there, but it's like you're watching yourself from a million miles away. You watch as the Yeerk fools your friends and family. You watch as your loved ones are dragged, screaming down a pier, and infested with even more Yeerks. 

By now, you're thinking all is lost, right? 

Wrong. There is a hope. Five human kids and an Andalite. 

Some hope right? 

Well, toss in the fact that each of those people can change into animals and then the odds look a little bit better. Very little. The truth is that this power is more useful than any weapon could be, but it's not enough. All we've been able to do so far is to aggrivate the Yeerks. We never seem to win anything major. All we've had are several minor victories. 

And even though we-Cassie, my girlfriend (although I was slow to acknowledge it for some time), Rachel, my gung-ho-Xena-warrior-princess cousin, Marco, my comical best friend, Tobias, a kid with a screwed up family trapped in the body of a red-tailed hawk, and Ax, Elfangor's little brother, who is stranded on Earth-fight, we still live normal lives. As normal as possible anyway. 

I was in English class when it happened. Mr. Johansen was reciting some poetry of some 19th century author. I wasn't paying attention, I was still thinking about our last mission. It had been two months since we had last heard of any movement from the Yeerks-which is never a good sign. It meant something was up. Something important enough to keep quiet, except on the top levels of command. 

Then, out of nowhere, he appeared. He was in the form of an old man, but anyone could tell he was more. Before me stood the Ellimist.

Chapter two

I looked around me. Time had stopped. Mr. Johansen had dropped his book, and now it hung in mid air, partially open, as Mr. Johansen was just starting to bend over to pick it up. The kid net to me was asleep, head bent over, and a thread of drool was hanging out of his mouth, unwavering. The girl in front of me was filing her nails, a few specs were suspended in the air, like the book. Only I was able to move. 

One of the Ellimist's tricks. After all of the things I had been through, I was had no sense of humor for these sorts of things anymore. 

"What do you want?" I asked with a tone of anger and irritation in my voice. Not wise, if you were to look at it from a different point of view. Here was a being who had just stopped time to talk with me, and now I was talking to him like he was just another person who I'd bumped into on the street. 

He was in his old man guise-the one which he had used to appear before us for the first time oh-so long ago. "I wish to inform you of something which has great implications of future events. You will have to make a decision, Jake, the consequences of which will echo through the time and space strands for years to come."

"What decision?"

There was no answer. Instead, there was a flash of light, and then I was farther away from Earth than any human would ever be. 

I was at the base of a stone building. It stretched for miles in every direction, including vertically. Etched on the walls were symbols and words from what appeared to be thousands of different languages, all of which I had never seen before. Except one. 

There were no doors to this building, but there were miniature alcoves and indentions every few feet, and in these were statues of many types of what I guessed were aliens. I was in front of one such one. A familiar one. It was human, but it was even more familiar then it should have been. The language written on the wall beneath it was English, and it stated:

"In memory of one of the truest heroes of

Earth: Rachel Berenson

1983-2001 AD"

My eyes were staring at the monument, but my brain and my heart didn't accept it. It was a lie, a forgery. It couldn't be true. Couldn't be! Rachel was an unstoppable force, nothing could bring her down, but I realized the truth as a stood there, staring at her fate, and for some reason, I KNEW it was my fault. I KNEW I had been the one who had caused this impossible tragedy. And I knew that I could've kept her alive, but I had let her die. And I didn't know why I had done it, or under what circumstances. It was as if the act had already been done, but that was impossible. Rachel was still alive. 

"Is this the consequence you meant earlier?" I asked, my voice breaking.

He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. As sympathetic as eagle eyes ever could be, anyway. He sighed. Yes. It is one of the outcomes that is possible. I saw something that resembled a bear, an elephant, an eagle, and a white cat, if that's even imaginable walking/floating on the ground. Features of each animal exchanged with one another, constantly changing the appearance of the creature. Rachel's morphs. Welcome to the last place in your galaxy where any good still resides. This stone tower you see, it is my temple. It is dedicated to every hero who ever fought for freedom, truth, love, and peace. I have created a planet for any beings still out there not affected by It. Not as beautiful as Earth, but still very nice. He motioned towards the Earth-like plants and forests around, with some multicolored lakes and the colorful sky with a sense of pride. Then he said it:You will have to decide, Jake. Rachel's life hangs in the balance, but so does the fate of a species.

"What species? What are you talking about?"

With Rachel's life, there is another life, and a consequence in your war. The life will determine the fate of a species. The consequence includes the risk of losing. He started to walk towards me with a comical gamble, as his legs changed randomly. If Rachel dies, her unborn child will die, and so will the hope of a race of beings. Rachel's child is the pinnacle, the deciding factor, in a long chain of events that will unfold, leading to the destruction of an evil, and the birth of a new Golden Era of peace, love, prosperity, not just for _Homo Sapiens_, but thousands of other races as well. The chance that these events will happen is uncertain, for the future is ever changing, but they cannot happen without Rachel.

"I would never send Rachel to die, " I said, but something was gnawing at the back of my brain. 

You do not know the future. Battles, fights, wins and losses, fatigue, pride, and hope-each plays an important part in what is to come. So far, I have only shown you one of many possibilities that will derive from your decision. I cannot show you anymore, but some realities are worse than this. Some are better. You must decide though, this is certain. Remember, Life is what you are trying to save. Remember that when it is time.

Suddenly, I was in Cassie's barn. The rest of the Animorphs and Ax were there, and I realized I was talking.

"…so—um…" They were all staring at me intently, I looked at each one of them-Cassie, Marco, Ax, Tobias, and the Rachel, my cousin. The person with whom am entire race rested. And an unborn child…

Every day for years I pondered the meaning to the Ellimist's visit. Every day I asked myself "Would I ever send Rachel on a mission where death was inevitable? With everything I know, would I send her to her death? " And everyday I ashamedly admit I cannot answer that question…


End file.
